early morning toddler education full of fun, creativity and love from mommy

Thursday, February 25, 2010

Acorn People Bird Feeder

Alright... we seem to really be obsessed with birds and bird feeders around here, maybe it is all my dreaming of being outside :)
Today's Pajama Project was a bit of a "design as you go" project... It started when we were playing in the yard yesterday and found an insane amount of acorns in our yard (okay, so we have neglected the yard work a bit lately). Some of the acorns were "together" while some of the "tops" were separate from the "bottoms". I thought about how the tops looked like little hats and the acorns themselves were shaped like heads- and that is how it began. I realized that having Dodson put the "hats" back onto the "people" would really work his fine motor skills and might be a bit of a challenge for him.
Boy, did the idea evolve into something else once the creative juices were flowing the next morning...

When we were at the table the next morning, I first drew faces onto the acorns. We talked about how the little "person" must "feel", due to their expression- happy, sad, scared or silly. I told him it was cold outside and the little people needed hats on their heads and that I needed his help! I decided to let Dodson use peanut butter as "glue" to put the hats on their heads- you know, eat a little, glue a little. He used his little fingers to pinch the hats and hold the acorns. It was a challenge for him to line them up and insert the "head" into the "hat". He LOVED it! He giggled and loved seeing the finished product. The peanut butter was great, b/c it really looked like hair coming out of the hats (and was yummy). Perfect!!!

After creating the people, I decided they needed to "sit" on something, so I got a limb from the yard. Then I thought about how the squirrels and the birds would love the peanut butter as much as us. The idea then came to me to get out the hot glue gun and make this thing a bird feeder! Here are the materials I used from this point out...

I gathered some pine straw and glued it onto the limb (at this point Dodson was playing with and in the peanut butter- that kept him busy for a bit!) and took a small plastic container and glued it down to the limb as well (this would be the bowl for birdseed). Dodson filled the container (again working his fine motor skills) with the seed and used a little craft bird to adorn the limb.

Lastly I added the little acorn people. Here is the final product... silly, and not very "polished" looking but it was a way to display the precious little acorn people.

We set it outside and are anxious to catch some birds eating from the dish!!! Thanks for reading, and I hope you have a fun morning in your pj's too!

Then, I thought about how birds and squirrels would like the peanut butter and so the idea grew...

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Welcome to Pajama Projects...

I am a lucky girl!!! I get to stay home with my sweet little boy and play with glue, glitter, paint, cars, dinosaurs, fire trucks, building blocks and the like! I am a former teacher, with my masters in Early Childhood Education and I can't seem to pull myself away from the classroom. I truly love teaching, and what a better way to do it than right here in my home, with my little man, cozy in our pajamas! Thanks for stopping in and I hope you can find some fun ideas to share with your little ones as well! Now, get cozy, don't dress up for us :)